Ever-Gotesco gets halted after it drops corporate makeover plan
Ever-Gotesco Resources and Holdings [EVER 0.28 5.77%] [link] was halted by the PSE for one hour after it disclosed that it plans to conduct a series of transactions designed to perform a “quasi reorganization” to eliminate deficits, raise equity to fund investment into new business areas, and re-brand the company ahead of those new investments.
EVER’s board voted to first decrease the company’s authorized capital stock to P2.5 billion to “do quasi reorganization to eliminate deficit”, then increase the authorized capital stock to P7.5 billion to “to raise capital to fund expansion of our new business ventures”, then change the company’s name from “Ever-Gotesco Resources and Holdings” to “Everwoods Green Resources and Holdings”.
The stock was halted from 1pm to 2pm, with the stock trading up between 5% and 7% after the resumption of normal trading.
MB BOTTOM-LINE
The company’s stock peaked at P0.68/share around this time last year when Biz Buzz speculated that EVER could be a takeover target for a conglomerate looking to acquire some retail assets and land.
That never materialized, and the stock price has steadily evaporated since then, though not all the way back to its pre-2021 level of around P0.09/share.
So, what does all this news mean? To me, it probably says that EVER’s board has been investigating how to rejuvenate the business.
Perhaps EVER considered the buyout/takeover that Biz Buzz spoke about last year, and as part of those discussions, maybe the board investigated their “best alternative to a negotiated agreement” to get a better picture of the company’s value.
But, then, maybe nothing really materialized from those negotiations, except for the heightened desire to make some big changes, and a better understanding of the company’s value and its potential avenues for growth or rejuvenation.
Maybe a few board members were inspired by their investigations, and began to wonder more openly about what the company could do internally to monetize legacy assets and drive new profits for shareholders.
Maybe this development is just the latest phase in that process, where the board is “clearing the decks” to make a grand push into some new area, with a new name and new focus.
Or, maybe, it’s all just window-dressing as part of that original posturing to pressure a potential buyer’s valuation of EVER, like when Metro Pacific Investments [MPI 3.78 1.31%] briefly pushed the spin-off of its hospitals unit to force the hand of the American investment firms that were interested in buying a minority stake.
Remember how quickly MPI shelved those plans once the American firms invested?
Maybe that’s going on here.
Or, maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s just the thrashing of a past-its-prime company, and we’re going to hear some “we plan to partner with top renewable energy companies” plan to get into solar.
Who knows. I’m watching.
I’m interested to see what will happen, but I have no idea what’s going on.
It’s like watching a foreign movie that I’ve heard nothing about.
--
Merkado Barkada's opinions are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any particular stock. These daily articles are not updated with new information, so each investor must do his or her own due diligence before trading, as the facts and figures in each particular article may have changed.
- Latest
